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New laser system could give you a much smoother flight

Air turbulence is a frightening and potentially dangerous part of flying these days, and projections say that it's going to get even worse in years to come due to climate change. Now, though, a German aerospace company is developing a new laser system that will be able to more effectively warn pilots of potential turbulence along their flight path.

If everything in the cabin starts to shake and rattle while you're in mid-flight, it's due to turbulence, of course, but there are two different kinds of turbulence. One kind is caused by strong updrafts of air, usually from inside thunderstorms. Pilots can easily see these storms below and they can fly around the area, or even between the storm cells, to reduce the amount turbulence felt by passengers. If you're ever coming in for a landing and the pilot is slaloming around tall puffy clouds, it's to avoid the updrafts in those clouds.

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However, there's another kind of turbulence that is no so easily seen — clear air turbulence. This isn't caused by rising air. It happens at points in the atmosphere where there's very abrupt changes in wind speed and direction (called 'wind shear'). Swirls in the air (called 'eddies') develop in these areas of strong wind shear, similar to what you'd see in the water near the edges of a stream. The abrupt changes in wind speed and direction when flying into and then out of one of these eddies can toss a plane around pretty severely.

'Countless' people are injured in these situations, mainly because of how unexpected they are. One of the more recent incidences was reported by the Aviation Herald: On May 26th of this year, on a flight between Singapore and London, UK, seven people were injured "when the aircraft encountered severe clear air turbulence resulting in an altitude deviation of about 100 feet and all loose items becoming airborne."

However, scientists with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) Institute of Atmospheric Physics have developed a special laser system they're calling DELICAT — Demonstration of LIDAR based Clear Air Turbulence detection — which uses an ultraviolet laser, similar to how radio waves are used for RADAR, to read the density of the air in front of the aircraft. By taking constant readings, it can show pilots where there are significant changes in density caused by clear air turbulence, which will allow the pilots to avoid it or give passengers ample warning to buckle up.

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The DELICAT project is still in development and testing will continue until March of next year. When it's completed, this new laser system could substantially improve air safety, especially at a time when not only are the number of flights still increasing, but also the weather itself is expected to make conditions more dangerous.

(Photos courtesy: DLR)

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